It was a wet and rainy day, the salmon were running and we were fortunate to see some of the traditional native spear fishing that occurs during the annual salmon migration. Traditional Spear Fishing: Learning to spear fish is a skill that native men acquire through structured practice. It requires throwing exercises, developing a great deal of patience, making their own spear (a double tipped rod that is about 12 feet long), and understanding how to watch the river for the fish.